So the first episode is out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6p5AZp7r_Q
As it was so terribly controversial in the video gaming community I feel it warrants discussion. Generally though I agree with the entire thing, so I guess the talking point is what are your thoughts?
I thought this series was actually an interesting idea, but I have to admit that I stopped watching at about 4 minutes in. I don't know if its because of production values or if I'm a closeted chauvinist, but I just couldn't bring myself to care.
I'd like to know if it's as uninformed as her Bayonetta video before I start watching.
Well we're starting with an open mind, good. Anyone watched it yet?
3 minutes in so far: "We had this game with an empowering female, Miyamoto said he wanted the game as part of the Starfox franchise. Girl became a damsel in distress instead in Starfox Adventures. Sexism!"Originally Posted by SirKicksalot
The reasoning seems to be broken and I'm not a quarter of the video in. Let's unpause.
Gahhhh, Star Fox adventures.
The game that single handedly killed my beloved Starfox series and by extension the whole genre. What a way to put me in a horrible depression in the opening minute.
Otherwise the video is a pretty pitiless breakdown of the immaturity in videogame culture. I whole heartedly approve.
because she got a power and she can distoy us all the bad guys
Well us mature people of the future have progressed to the much better "kill evil towelheads" trope.
Pulp gaming is like pulp fiction.
The "kill evil towelheads" trope that includes no female characters whatsoever? Not really a separate thing, that. (And how odd that Space Marine of all things comes to mind as the exception to portrayal of women in a military setting)
Huh. I must have played too few of those games to gauge whether they typically include a damsel in distress. I am such a horrible person.
The point isn't that all games are bad because of a trope or that all games include this particular trope. So your point is....
So it's a shame theres nothing except pulp fiction in videogames. Every other medium has multiple levels from shlock to art with every level making it through to a large welcoming audience.
In gaming its either absolute pulp or you're playing an AGS game by someone who still has to work a day job to make rent.
because she got a power and she can distoy us all the bad guys
Seemed alright to me, I didn't see anything in the video to disagree with.
The Medallion of the Imperial Psychopath, a Napoleon: Total War AAR
For the Emperor!, a Total War: Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai AAR
I don't have 20 minutes to watch the video right now, so I wasn't referring to that particular damsel trope but rather representation in general. Personally, I'd like to see damsels without distress, and muck without mire and so on without the so forth.
I don't like her eyebrows.
As a straight white male I give this video two and a half mehs.
Let's see what she has to say about modern games in part 2.
That "women are the ball" point is a little far fetched, isn't it? Suddenly after one "out of the feminist textbook" example and one ingame cut she's trying to pass it as fact?
No ad hominem, that's just cheap.
First of all I want to pass two comments on the episode/series what have you. One, I don't know if its on my end or the video, but I'm convinced the audio and video are out of sync by a few milliseconds and it's head wrecking. Two, I don't see why this needed to be kickstarted based on this episode. The production value is pretty basic, she's sat infront of a blue screen for the entire thing and has a few images pop up and some screen wipes to videos.
Overall, the presentation is very lacking.
As for the material itself, well it's not anything brilliant at the moment. It's basically her saying "this is stuff that has been going on in history since roman times and here's some examples of it happening in video games". She says near the end that it's one of the most widely used tropes in video games, it is, but it's also one of the most widely used in any entertainment medium ever since we started telling stories.
What the re-releasing of old games on digital platforms has to do with anything I don't know. These games are hd remakes in some cases and straight up "ports" in others with almost zero changes put into them. Asking them to be changed is like asking kids not to read Tom Sawyer with the N word in it.
Her examples using Mario and Zelda games, aren't great, since those two series have essentially been the retelling of the first game over and over and over again. It'd be like pointing out a trope about Romio and Juliet and then complaining about it being used in every movie or play that uses that story as it's basis.
So first episode, a whole lot of nothing to be honest and I really don't think after seeing the end product that she actually required a kickstarter for it.
My point is, don't expect anything above drivel if you're buying from drivel-peddlers. Buy yourself some Guild Wars 2 and help out the heroic Norn lady hero, that sort of thing.
I don't see the point in this complaint, even if it's completely correct that women are portrayed in a sexist way. It goes way beyond the damsel in distress trope in the industry anyway. When the women do eventually buck up and do some hero-ine, they're most likely going to be in a chainmail bikini or have huge tits. And then there's the booth babe thing, which is infinitely worse IMO because it actually involves real women.
It makes sense in the Mario context. Whether it actually holds up elsewhere is another matter.
It's the first in a series so I imagine she'll get on to that trope :P
Reply With Quote
